Tag: PCDMV
Armscor/SA Navy oversight briefing runs aground as Motshekga fails to pitch
Simon’s Town, home to the premier base of the SA Navy (SAN) and its fleet headquarters as well as the Armscor dockyard, was the...
Informal settlements can be a problem for SANDF, defence committee hears
When a country’s military brings squatters, in the broadest sense of the word, to the attention of Parliament by way of a presentation to...
“Security” response makes a mockery of Parliament defence oversight
Parliamentary oversight is an essential component of South Africa’s constitutional democracy but exercising it in the defence arena is “frustrating, to say the least”.
The...
Motshekga’s Parliamentary absence likened to “bunking”
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga stands accused of “bunking” Parliament to evade questions about the now terminated peacekeeping mission in the eastern...
Parliament oversight committee recommends administration for DMV
Continuous under- and non-performance at the Department of Military Veterans (DMV), repeatedly raised by veteran soldiers and their representative organisations as well as publicly...
South Africa’s defence capability eroding into irrelevancy – Hattingh
Examination of the 2025/26 Department of Defence (DoD) annual performance plan (APP) confirms, according to a Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentarian, “what has long been...
Motshekga can expect SAMIDRC questions at committee meeting amid DRC withdrawal
The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) on Thursday 1 May confirmed that “the phased withdrawal” of troops and equipment from the eastern Democratic Republic...
DoD management taken to task for failing to reverse SANDF decline
The holders of government’s purse strings – National Treasury (NT) – was again warned its budgetary constraints on Minister Angie Motshekga’s Department of Defence...
Follow-up oversight visit to Thaba Tshwane shows no progress
On Monday 14 April, Carl Niehaus, Member of Parliament for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) serving on both the Joint Standing Committee on Defence...
Renewal of the SANDF essential for national security amid critical decline...
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is in critical decline due to chronic underfunding and outdated technology, and requires urgent renewal.
This is according...
Thaba Tshwane an example of military neglect and mismanagement – Niehaus
During last month’s oversight visit to Thaba Tshwane, Parliamentary defence committee members inspected the military “suburb” in Pretoria and found its condition “deplorable,” with...
Treasury pushes for sustainable SANDF rejuvenation amid budget constraints
With the fiscal framework for South Africa’s 2025/26 national budget approved – by a small majority in Parliament this week – the military component...
Motshekga’s military veterans department taken to task by Parliamentary oversight committee
The Department of Military Veterans (DMV), currently under the leadership of yet another acting Director-General, did not come out unscathed after the Portfolio Committee...
PCDMV meeting to discuss DRC postponed at last minute
The Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) has postponed a meeting today that was supposed to provide an update on the situation...
Legoete calls for more SANDF funding amid ‘security lapse’ in the...
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) Dakota Legoete has said South Africa is facing a ‘security lapse’ in...
Opposition parties seek answers from government on DRC fiasco
South African opposition parties are demanding answers and clarity on the SA National Defence Force’s (SANDF’s) deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)...
EFF slams draft defence budgetary review reports, calls SANDF a collapsing...
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have launched a scathing attack on the on the draft Budgetary Review and Recommendation Reports (BRRRs) concerning the Department...
SA defence “political heads” working to resolve problems – Holomisa
Retired general and currently a deputy defence and military veterans minister Bantu Holomisa, reviewing the first 100 days of South Africa’s second government of...
Defence Committee welcomes dialogue to strengthen defence oversight
The Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) has welcomed what it says were fruitful round-table discussions with academic experts from the University...
Underfunded SANDF not conducive to safe environment and economic growth
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) maintains South Africa’s security and stability faces “a significant threat” if underfunding of the...
SA could be “defenceless” without intervention in the SANDF
Following this week’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) meeting there’s been another call for “urgent intervention” in the SA National Defence...
Minister Motshekga taken to task over lack of a permanent DG...
The military veteran component of Minister Angie Motshekga’s portfolio and specifically its lack of leadership is now on record in an effort to spur...
Parliament defence committee hears SANDF is “deteriorating”
In the wake of presentations by senior defence and military academics, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) is on record as...
Defence portfolio committee up and running, still no word on standing...
One of two Parliamentary oversight committees specifically tasked with defence and military veterans is up and running with, as yet, no sign of the...
First PCDMV oversight visit hears of Army’s “strategic dilemma”
With the National Assembly (NA) and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) starting work this week in earnest the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military...
JSCD to have representatives from five political parties
If proposals set by Parliament’s Joint Rules Committee (JRC) are accepted, the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) will see the African National Congress...
Joint Standing Committee on Defence composition not yet known
One of the three parliamentary defence oversight committees is up and running, a chair has been named for another and the third awaits direction...
Cudgels taken up in defence funding debate
Battle lines are seemingly drawn ahead of the 2024 fight for defence funding, with National Treasury (NT) on one hand warning the powers that...
Parliamentary defence oversight in SA – Looking back on the 6th...
Parliamentary oversight is an important practice in democracies as it prevents dominance by the executive branch of government and ensures accountability. Oversight of the...
Auditor General comes down hard on Modise’s Department of Defence
Two weeks after her Department of Defence (DoD) was hauled over the coals by its internal audit committee, Minister Thandi Modise’s portfolio was given...
Department of Defence faces critical audit findings; urgent reform needed
The Department of Defence (DoD) received stark warnings from its audit committee chair during a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military...
2015 Defence Review action plan envisaged by October
Nine years since the most recent SA Defence Review saw the light of day, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise wants, as “a...
Armscor commercial activities growing
In the light of continued decreasing defence spending by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government, Armscor will intensify its commercialisation strategy by building on a top...
Delivery of first operational A-Darters scheduled for December
Slow progress is being recorded with the long-delayed A-Darter air-to-air missile being manufactured by Denel Dynamics for the SA Air Force (SAAF), with delivery...
Austerity impacts SANDF time in the air and at sea
Two areas where austerity measures brought on by a reduced defence budget show in the performance of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) are...
Non-availability of aircraft delays SA SAMIDRC deployment
South Africa’s commitment to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) did not have an auspicious...
Defence committees provide recommendations to SA defence sector after German study...
Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) and Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) recently conducted a study tour to Germany, and...
PCDMV calls for urgency on new SANDF strategic direction
The budgetary review and recommendations report (BRRR) of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) has nine recommendations for improving the well-being...
Lohatlha fire could have legal repercussions
Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) raised the possibility of a legal claim against the owners of the land where the...
Revised military veterans’ pension regulations published
A last minute rush saw a Government Gazette published yesterday (Friday 6 October) with details of revised pension regulations for military veterans.
The Department of...
Military veteran pensions on administrative hold
Military veterans now have to wait for ministerial approval before the “payment process” for pensions can be started, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and...
Military prosecutors “gathering evidence” in further Umzimvubu call-up investigation
Providing an update on the yet to be finally resolved Umzimvubu Regiment July 2021 call-up, SA Army Chief, Lieutenant General Lawrence Mbatha, told parliamentarians...
Funding shortage puts the brakes on new army work dress
As with much else in the overall SA National Defence Force (SANDF), its largest combat component suffers a funding shortage and this is affecting...
Consequence management not a DoD priority, PCDMV claims after Hawks investigations
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) believes investigations into financial malfeasance to the tune of R170 million in the Department of...
Parliamentary committee hears veterans’ department not meeting targets
“Challenges” along with “low performance” and “major misalignment” made regular appearances in a Parliamentary Communication Services statement regarding a Department of Military Veterans (DMV)...
Portfolio committee maintains Treasury out of touch on defence
Making the South African military comply with Cabinet authorised budget and spending cuts is not in the best interests of the country’s defence capabilities,...
SANDF faces paralysis if recruitment not addressed – JSCD
That South Africa needs a defence force is not in question. However, what is worrying to Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) is...
Umzimvubu Regiment volunteers will be paid for service, PCMDV hears
The chaos of a mid-2021 Reserve Force regiment Operation Prosper call-up, including a second board of inquiry (BOI), resulted in 13 recommendations, including “corrective...
Defence shortcomings under the oversight committee microscope
The Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) – one of two Parliamentary defence oversight committees has set itself tough targets for the...
Army personnel commended for commitment
This week’s oversight visit to military bases and facilities in an around Bloemfontein brought to the forefront the commitment of young men and women...
